Written in English for the purpose of brushing up my English skills. I'd like to make friends with someone who lives in Estonskaya, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Frivolous comments aren't welcome on this blog.

Jul 15, 2009

Nobel award in Literature

I read through the Japanese translation of "Die Blechtrommel" and "Beim Haeuten Der Zwiebel", which were authored by Günter Grass, who is a Nobel laureate in literature. I know that he has been under fire due to his career. He revealed recently that he used to be a member of Schutzstaffel (Nazi's SS) in his autobiography of "Beim Haeuten Der Zwiebel". I didn't enjoy either. I wonder how the Nobel laureate in literature is decided. It feels like the decision is lacking in objectivity. In the case of the Peace Prize, people can judge the achievement of the laureate and express their opinions like it's ok or not. It's rare that somebody plots to put a con on people and win the Nobel Peace Prize, committing big money to something just like former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung (金大中). I think that people can't know the reason why he or she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Every language has its own beautiful expressions and verses. The referees would never be able to handle many languages at the same time. Consequently, the standard of judgement would be the story or the context of the work. I wondered why he received the Prize. The story of "Die Blechtrommel" was weird and unbelievable. According to his profession, some people accused him and insisted that he should pass up the Nobel Prize. I believe that the Nobel Prize in Literature makes no sense.